COUNTRY LIFE magazine has launched its hunt for the Gentleman Of The Year by publishing a highly controversial list of dos and don'ts for the modern man in its latest issue.

Its Gentlemanly Commandments include never wearing a pre-tied bowtie, boycotting Twitter, avoiding fuchsia trousers and not acquiring a cat.

Betting firm Paddy Power immediately responded by installing David Beckham as 7/4 favourite to win the honour.

So what do arbiters of style and taste make of the latest standards demanded of a gentleman?

The veto on cat ownership is sexist and ageist because cats are associated with women and particularly older ones

Peter York, co-author of The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook

PETER YORK, social commentator and co-author of The Official Sloane Ranger Handbook, says:

THESE lists can be very arbitrary but there are some absolutes. Pretied bowties don't feel or hang right and have no aesthetic merit. As for Lycra, gentlemen should not wear clingy fabrics.

The veto on cat ownership is sexist and ageist because cats are associated with women and particularly older ones. It also presupposes that a man who has a cat can't possibly have a labrador as well.

Dame Edna Everage turned gladioli into joke flowers but I adore Malibu. Again, the prejudice is sexist (it's a girls' drink) and snobbish (it's a Northern girls' drink). I love hair products but they are decidedly vulgar. My grandmother who was largely brought up in France warned me against turning out like a Frenchman because they wore scent.

Twitter comes from the American culture of expressing oneself from brain straight to mouth, which a gentleman affects to despise. Traditionally, you do not assume that other people will be interested in your opinions.

Twenty-five years ago Harper's & Queen had a column called "Nobs take yobs' jobs" with examples of smart people from grand families doing artisanal work. That is no longer a novelty. Smart people are chefs and open food shops. David Linley, the Queen's grandson, is a carpenter. Developing computer games is creative. It's a growth industry and you can make a lot of money. Perceptions of careers have all changed.

As for making love on one's elbows, even the British gentleman has learned to be a little more adventurous!

I CAN remember there being a big hoo-ha a couple of years ago when David Cameron said he never wears a watch because a gentleman doesn't wear jewellery. Now people don't wear watches because they have mobile phones but taking out your phone to check the time does not have as much cachet as a watch. People don't know what you're doing - you could be visiting a social network website. To the younger generation it's probably vaguely acceptable but to those aged over 40 it can be quite rude.

Women say on dates they look at the man's watch and his shoes. With shoes it's to see if they're well kept and women think: "If someone can't look after their shoes how can they look after me?" Someone once told me that looking at the back of a gentleman's shoes is much better than looking at the front. With the front it's pretty obvious if you've got to polish but the back should be just as shiny.

When it comes to table manners the host should finish their food last unless, of course, they are in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen. When the Queen finishes eating everybody else finishes eating. Unfortunately, she is quite a quick eater. She is vaguely considerate though. If it's a state banquet and honoured guests are ploughing on she'll often pick at a salad so they don't feel too rushed.

Writing with a Biro? If you're jotting down a shopping list that's fine but you would certainly never write any correspondence with one. It would have to be a fountain pen with blue or black ink. Black is slightly more traditional but use blue if you have slightly dodgy handwriting. It's not as heavy.

Always well-dressed, David Beckham often features on men's style lists [WENN]

TOM STACEY, novelist, travel writer and former Daily Express correspondent, who went to Eton, was a second lieutenant in the Brigade of Guards and is a member of the exclusive gentlemen's clubs White's, Pratt's and the Beefsteak. He says:

I THINK gentlemanly principles are timeless. I always tell my children everything you write, including a letter to the milkman, should be written with style because the milkman matters. He cares about his profession.

I wear bowties all the time but I always tie them. Falsity in any context is not a good idea. I don't think gentlemen should dye their hair in any circumstances but a certain type of pomade is perfectly in order. It never occurred to me that it might not be. We've got to be careful about straying into seeing things as U and non-U [the classladen distinctions coined by Nancy Mitford in the 1950s] because behaviour can get idiosyncratic. When I was a child my parents referred to one newspaper as the Daily Looking Glass because they would never say the word "mirror".

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RANALD MACDONALD, heir to the 24th chief of the Macdonalds of Clanranald and proprietor of the Boisdale restaurant group, says:

THE perception of what a gentleman is has evolved dramatically because traditionally a gentleman has been someone who was courageous and capable in combat but gentle in society, particularly in the company of women.

It was once about the class and background but more and more it's about how you behave.

In the 21st century I don't think one is a gentleman simply because one has grand forebears.

Dinner parties have become the sport of all society. My wife's always complaining that when we go to dinner parties the women prompt the men with questions and, often enough, these men - who may have gone to quite smart schools - don't draw breath while talking about themselves but don't bother to ask one single question in return. Being a gentleman is not just putting people at ease but also being interested in the other person and giving the impression of being genuinely interested even if not.

Rules for a 21st century true gent

HE IS:

At ease in any situation and puts others at their ease

Always on time

Able to dress to suit the occasion

Willing to eat anything that's put in front of him but left to his own devices, happiest with unfussy fare such as omelettes and shepherd's pie

Considerate enough to make love on his elbows

Occasionally drunk - but never disorderly

Mindful of others' financial circumstances when choosing a restaurant or booking group holidays and doesn't flash his cash

More interested in finding out how you are than in telling you about himself